
Profit from automotive sales for the first three quarters of the financial year was up at Suzuki, despite declining outside of the manufacturer’s home market of Japan.
From April to December 2012, net sales income was up 9.5% year-on-year to ¥749.7bn (£5.29bn) in Japan but down 3.6% to ¥1,073.1bn overseas, which the brand attributed to the increasing value of the Yen, making exports more expensive, and falling demand in Europe, which marked an operating loss in the second quarter of the financial year. Overall, net sales income for the period was still up, by 1.4%, to ¥1,822.8bn.
Operating and net income were each up, year-on-year, for the period. Operating income rose by 5.9% to ¥92.9bn and net income by 19.2% to ¥48.4bn.
Suzuki is now predicting financial full-year figures of 3.5% year-on-year growth to ¥2,600bn net sales income, with operating income up 9.0% to ¥130bn (up ¥10bn from the company’s previous forecast), ordinary income up 11.1% to ¥145bn (again, up ¥10bn from the previous forecast) and net income up 29.9% to ¥70bn, all at the exchange rate of ¥81/US$, ¥105/.
richard.brown@timetric.com